In His Name Devotionals
SWIFT TO HEAR, SLOW TO ACT
In His Name Devotionals
SWIFT TO HEAR, SLOW TO ACT
“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) “Do not withhold correction from a child...” (Proverbs 23:13)
Three boys, ages 16, 15, 14 all went to the same school, same church and worked at the same grocery store. Two of the boys, the 15 and 14 year old, enjoyed playing jokes on others. Everyday they would choose someone at the store to be the ‘goat’ for that particular day. The older boy was new to the store and couldn’t take a joke very well, so of course, that made it even more fun.
One night after closing the store, the two boys egged the older boy’s car. It was so much fun they decided to do it again the next night. But, when they started throwing the egg the next evening, the older boy’s two brothers and father were waiting. They caught the younger boy. The 15 year old saw what was happening while hiding under some bean stalks in a nearby garden. The younger boy was beaten, his nose broken and eyes blackened, falling unconscious in the parking lot. The younger boy was revived, carried home, and taken to a hospital by his family. The family took pictures of the boy’s swollen face and black eyes. They planned to sue the family of the other boys.
The preacher talked to the family of the younger boy, and they dropped the lawsuit. However, it has been 30 years since the event of that night, and the 14 year old, his parents and sister have never been back to church. Grandchildren are now in that family and have never been taught about Jesus.
Maybe it would have been better for the father of the 14 year old boy to have talked to the parents of the other boys? Perhaps, if he had been made to wash the 16 year olds car that night, maybe pleasing the 16 year old, then maybe the souls of the family of the 14 year old boy would not be so far from Christ?
